Inverted World (1974) by Christopher Priest

Cover of the 2008 reprint of Inverted World by Christopher Priest

Book Review

Inverted World (1974) 

by Christopher Priest

     A city called Earth on tracks is pulled ever north, pursuing a never obtainable "optimum" for reasons opaque to Howard Mann, an apprentice in the city's medieval-like guild system.  Is this an alien world? Who built the city?  It's all very unclear.  The afterward by John Clute argues that Inverted World is the first English example of the subgenre of "Hard Sci Fi" featuring mostly masculine heroes seeking the answers to complicated questions involving future science, interstellar travel, looming disaster, etc.   Like many examples of excellent genre fiction, the pleasure of the book is bound up in the ending, and any discussion of the narrative structure or the plot risks that payoff.